Sunday, May 27, 2007

Even when he attended Oxford University in the late 1960s, 2008 Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Rodham-Clinton’s husband, Bill, apparently did not impress most U.S. radical activists as being that ethical a guy. According to a former classmate of Bill Clinton, “a `long-haired hippie type’ who had been active in Students for a Democratic Society [SDS] used to reproach Clinton for paying only lip service to the antiwar movement” and “Clinton…was perceived as a `hypocrite, a faker, and a phony, because he wouldn’t stand up for his convictions.’” (On The Make by Meredith Oakley)

During his 1982 campaign for Arkansas governor, some observers also apparently accused the campaign of Hillary’s husband of “buying” African-American votes to secure Bill’s margin of victory. According to On The Make:

“An analysis of [1982] election returns and voting patterns revealed that black voters had given Clinton the winning edge. They had turned out in record numbers…only voting for governor. The conventional wisdom was that `street money’ distributed to local black leaders had produced the turnout…It was…taken for granted that in some communities, particularly in the Delta, black voters were for sale and had been bought. Certainly, Democratic supporters chauffeured many poor and elderly voters, blacks and whites, to the polls…”

In the same book, Oakley also stated that “During the many years I covered his political activities in Arkansas…I documented the numerous falsehoods, broken promises, and ruses, some of which never saw their way into print” and “Clinton fans are difficult to find in Arkansas.”